Analysing my AS Production in Terms of Narrative and Representation theories.... Both essays in one!

As part of our AS production, me and my group were able to contribute to a making for an urban Y2K film opening, called ‘Bleak’. The overall plot of the opening is about a youth growing up in South London, trying to cope with the entire struggle and pain that is linked British gangs. We thus see our main character walking out of his house and then down the road. He then arrives at an alley way and sees a youth getting robbed and beaten up. As he continues walking he then stops and regret the choice he makes and then decides to turn back and help the young boy who is in trouble.  

Our As product somewhat follows Roland Barthes theory, meaning that we gain access to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one; the codes it mobilizes extend as far as the eye can read, they are indeterminable. Therefore our product does not have a straightforward outline to it as it carries out Barthes enigma code, the narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries as it goes along.  The whole opening is shrouded with enigma from the greyscale Mise-en-scene, to constant close up and mid-shots taken when our character is walking.  Therefore Barthes enigma code theory can be identified and we have used this to attract our audiences and create a narrative that doesn't happen in real life to provide diversion/escapism for our audience.

Hence when the opening scene came to an end, we never saw what happened, therefore the audience decide on the meaning and the outcome, having different type of perception every time.

In terms of representation, we dressed up our main character in a hoodie and black baggy trousers, this is a stereotypical view of a youth growing up in London, where information about our character can be summed up in a few words but in this instance it becomes more visual.  This has connotation of being urban, young and lower-class, which is how we wanted our target audience to view our character.

We had made sure that the representation we conveyed was that of social realism and Kitchen sink, that of fish tank. The fact that most are in a sense a reflection of today's society however in comparison to other Y2K films which tends to over exaggerate the portrayal of youths living in estates/urban atmosphere.

The representation of youths in our film is fairly linked with Althusser's interpellation. As we had constructed our character based on pre-given structures. Therefore through the use of media text such as tabloids or broadsheets to impose their ideology onto us the audience, we have effectively reflected that onto our film opening. Therefore in as sense our representation was simply imposed by other's ideology or perception of youths and not originally of our own idea. We the audience are completely bombarded by the messages the media sets up for us making certain assumptions for us whether it be people, events place in society etc.

Henceforth creating the perfect representation for our character and our setting was to really conform to the stereotypical assumption of a black male youth living in south London.      

To conclude, my AS production conforms to the Roland Barthes narrative and stereotypical theory to create a conventional Y2K opening scene.