How is age represented in this extract of Monarch of the Glen Essay

Age is represented in this extract of Monarch of the Glen through the use of mise-en-scene, camera angles, editing and sound. Monarch of the Glen is a British drama television series and is loosely based on Compton Mackenzie’s Highland Novel; therefore, its views are quite old fashioned thus the younger generations are seen as troublemakers and immature, whereas the older generations are seen to be wise and in control. The main way in which this is shown to us is through the mise-en-scene, it’s subtle enough that it doesn’t really stand out but it has a big effect on how the audience perceives both ages. There are a lot of people much older than the 16 year old, the audience can clearly see that she is uneducated and quite immature as she does not know how to drive but she still lies and says that she can drive, consequently resulting in a crash. This shows her naivety and the fact she lied shows she is immature which is stereotypical of her age. Clothes also make people look older – Headmaster, wearing an old tweed suit, reinforcing his high status and position of authority. Additionally he drinks brandy in this clip, displaying he is a sophisticated man. On the other hand, the 16 year old wear young clothes, such as a hoodie. She also runs away emphasising her lack of knowledge. After the argument with Paul we see Amy in her room. Her room is filled with teenage magazines, photos, teddy bears which has youthful connotations depicting innocence which is true to her age. Rural setting – all wearing farming clothes apart from headmaster and girl, the headmaster is visiting the village. The costumes are juxtaposed as we can see the manual/working-class clothes as oppose to her â€Å"trendy† youthful clothes giving the audience the impression that younger people are more focused on their appearance. Older generation – grey hair/big beards. On the other hand, the girl is made up and has a flower in her hair symbolising youthfulness and blossoming. The setting is a Scottish rural Island with archaic buildings, this is out of place in this modern day, and the audience can empathise with her vulnerability as it is a place meant for older people. The people who live there believe that way of life is the â€Å"norm†. The second way in which age is represented is through sound. When the girl is shown in the clip the music becomes more exciting emphasising her youthfulness and energy but when the rest of the characters are shown, the music is country/folk reinforcing that they are manual labour workers, which is quite an old fashioned job for older men, this then emphasises the difference in age. When the young girl is packing her stuff to leave, the music is slow creating a sad atmosphere; this accentuates the fact that she is over emotional which is typical in a girl of her age because of her hormones she is then perceived as not thinking straight and foolish. Another way in which age is represented through sounds that isn’t as obvious is through the characters accents. The head teacher is posh with received pronunciation, which is a reflection on his appearance and his dominance showing his age in a positive way. However, Amy has a northern/Scottish accent creating an uneducated image making her appear young and untested. The camerawork varies from character to character and we see key editing styles that promote the age gap and their differences. Cross cutting is used to display what is happening in time sequence and shot reverse shot is used to show the opposition between the age groups. There is always a low angle shot of Paul to show dominance of not only being the male but being older than Amy and there is always a high angle shot of Amy emphasising she is a minority and the adults in the clip are superior and have authority. Over-the-shoulder Shots are used to make the audience feel empathy as the viewer can see the action from the character’s points of view and we can see that Amy is quite scared of what might happen despite the fact she has a lot of attitude which is typical in a girl of her age. Point of View Shots display what the character can see and the reactions of the character we can see depending on their age, the younger characters tend to act brashly and with attitude and tend to be quite foolish but the older characters act calmer and sort the situation out quicker. In this extract, age stereotypes are used and challenged. The older characters are generally represented as the ones who get involved in the action and are the dominant figures as they outnumber the younger characters. However they don’t conform to the typical stereotype of an older person as they are independent, active, strong and capable but still with the normal characteristics such as being calm and wise showing them very positively, on the contrary the younger characters are seen very negatively whilst conforming with most of the typical traits of a teenager such as a bad attitude, careless, naive and loud. I think this is the case because it would generally be older people watching this due to the time it’s on, the setting and the plot so they wouldn’t want to discourage their target audience from watching it.