Representation

The way a place, event or character is portrayed in a film is known as representation. Films can represent each of these in different ways by constructing either negative or positive versions of them.
The way you want to represent something is done using sound, mise-en-scene, editing, lighting and colour and use of camera, for example if you wanted to portray a character as being dominating and scary, you would use low key lighting to create large contrasts and shadows on the characters face thereby making the character look menacing  suspenseful sound which would make the audience feel anxious; dark colours and settings; fast editing and low angle shots, all of this would represent the character as something to be feared. Representations are ideological views of the world, in that they are constructed within a framework of values and beliefs.



Representation helps to show aspects of the world we inhabit e.g gender, social groups and places (stereotypes). Depending on the genre of film the representation of one of these things can be very different, e.g in horror films females are shown to be weak and defenseless (damsel in distress), in contrast in family films such as The Last Airbender, they are shown to be strong and independent (role models).