represenation in media product essay.

In this essay I am going to be discussing the digital media product the woman in black, I will discuss the concept representation using theory and examples to support my answers. Tim 0’sullivan et al. (1998) said that for all representations to work, there has to be a shared recognition of people and places, All representations therefore have ideologies behind them. I believe that this concept is proven to be true within the media text of ‘The woman in black’ trailer due to the denoted mise-en-scene, for example: the costumes denoted are very stereotypical to the 1900’s, for example all female characters are wearing bonnets with long dresses, which are costumes in which today's generation associate with the 1900’s due to the ideology that back then  that women had to be all covered up or they’d be disrespected, therefore these costumes help represent the 1900’s as we associate them with this era due to the ideology of women having be covered up to be seen as ‘pure’. 

Tim o’sullivans theory is also reinforced through the makeup denoted on actors, for example the women are wearing very minimal makeup due to the ideology that makeup wasn’t really worn by women in the 1900’s, helping portray the iconography that the film is set in. The makeup used on the face of ‘the woman in black’ in very white making her look pale / dead in the face, this is contrasted with black makeup used around her eyes and mouth, this is a stereotypical ‘ghost’ makeup look due to the ideology and shared recognition that  ghosts look distorted and unnatural, therefore helping reinforce the genre of horror within the film.

The location and iconography within the film is set in the 1900’s in a small village, this use of setting reinforces the genre of horror within the film due to the ideology and shared recognition that most ghosts are from eras such as the 1900’s or earlier, therefore the use of this setting portrays horror as we associate this era with the mystery and ghosts, especially due to the fact that no technologies such as smart phones were around at this time, meaning stories from these eras get dramatized and are believed to be true as there is nothing to prove that they’re not, such as recordings. 

Props used are ones such as old gas lanterns, again this represents the genre of horror due to it reinforcing the fact that the film is set in an old era due to the ideology that people didn’t have access to elements such as torches, therefore the old gas lamp connotes that the film took place before more advanced technologies came out, this prop also represents the genre of horror as gas lamps creates low-key lighting as they don't have much effect when trying to brighten a room, low-key lighting is another effect that is conventional to horror films due to the ideology of the unknown and mystery. 

Earp and Katz (1999) said that men are often represented as having tendencies of pathological control over violence, I disagree with this idea in my text as the main male character is represented as being weak and belittled, this is shown via camera work due to the fact that high angles are used in which portray Daniel Radcliffe as being looked down upon, making him seem weak to the audience as the audience see him from higher up, implying that other elements are more dominant than him. Close up shots are also used allowing us to fully denote Daniels emotions due to us seeing his face very closeup, his facial expressions imply that he is scared as he is straight faced and sweating, portraying him as defeatable by ‘the woman in black’.