Example Essay Answer

The significance of props, setting, make-up and clothes in the extract convey the representation of age and gender greatly; the female protagonists are portrayed as stereotypical teenagers, wearing short skirts which are currently in fashion. Their make-up is quite natural with an emphasis on the eyes, which is an important facial feature that highlights femininity. Their costumes are a sharp contrast to the middle aged woman in the shop, who is dressed in black, reflecting the formality of her character. She is also holding a pen, suggesting she is working, creating another contrast with the teenage girls who are portrayed as being idle: both in the extract and stereotypically in the media. The setting of the wedding shop, where the main action takes place, is important as it has connotations linked to female gender. The church is equally important as this represents the stereotypical dream that girls may have about marriage and romance.The links between various shots are mainly transitions using cross-cuts. The transitions are fast-paced, which represent the protagonists’ fast lives. Often, teenagers are perceived by society as leading hectic personal lives, which may include drugs, sex and drinking alcohol. The narrative flow is created by retaining the same characters throughout the different scenes, and also by the cross cutting which maintains the continuity of time and space. This helps the audience to relate what they are watching with reality. The use of eye line matches in the shop reinforces the communication between the teenagers and the woman, which comes across as awkward due to the language employed by the young girls. Words such as “spunk” would not commonly be used in such situations and makes the audience feel uncomfortable. The majority of the sound in the extract is diegetic, which adds to the naturalism of the scenes. In the first scene, the audience can detect the sound of bells being rung; this is a subliminal message, which hints at the theme of marriage. Consequently, at the end of the extract these bells sound out the tune of the wedding bells that you would associate with the end of a traditional ceremony, which signifies the end of the narrative.
When the protagonists meet at the beginning of the scene, there are ambient sounds of cars; this shows that these characters are not isolated and therefore represents that they live in an urban area. As the girls enter the store, incidental piano music is playing. This gives a more composed atmosphere, and creates the illusion that the character's time in the shop will be a positive experience. After an exchange of dialogue between the two protagonists and a third character, they leave the shop accompanied by the non-diegetic sound of the traditional wedding march. This sound is more up tempo and more dramatic than the previous piano music and fits in with the narrative, whereby the girls have stolen the wedding attire that they were looking at. Furthermore, the idea of getting married is often associated with female fairytale dreams. The first scene begins with a low angle shot. This represents how important the protagonists feel. The camera points upwards on a canted angle, showing that they are in a superior position; something that a lot of teenagers stereotypically believe they are in. In the next scene, the camera is hand-held, making the scene seem more like a documentary and closer to real life, possibly being filmed by friends as opposed to a cameraman. Whilst in the shop, over-the-shoulder shots are used to show the conversation that's going on from both points of view and helps the audience follow the action that is taking place. The way the characters are positioned allows the audience to notice the wedding dresses behind them, showing the gender of the characters. In the final scene, the spinning point of view shots link to the idea of drugs that the characters talked about earlier in the first scene, as these shots seem almost disorientated. This again represents a stereotype of teenagers and drug use.

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