English unit on short film

1. IGCSE
Short Film - Representation

2. Representation
All around the school environment students are
represented in various ways. In your books list as many
examples of this representation as you can think of.

3. Objectives
See how ideas, values and emotions are portrayed.
Consider how audiences choose and respond to film
Recognise different audience interpretations of the same
film

4. Viewing
Two Cars, One Night
In this diagram each
What is the
question feeds into a new
relationship
question. To consider between
the issue of the characters
in the film and
representation we need to
the audience?
jump into the chain and
begin
answering the questions.
Who is
Who has the represented
film
by the
been made characters in
for?
the film?

5. Representation
Who is being represented by the characters in the film?
Are there things about the character which make him/her
familiar to us in some way?
Do we recognise aspects of his/her personality or behaviour?
Is the character recognisable from a particular social context in
the real world, or are his/her qualities more universal?
Create a table like the one below into your books and fill in the details for each
character
Romeo Ed Polly

6. Target Audience
Who has the film been made for?
Who is it being targeted at?
Red: People who would identify closely
with the characters in Two Cars One
Night.
Orange: People who might not identify
so closely, but would still identify with
them in an immediate way.
Gold: Other individuals / groups who
might not identify so personally with the
characters but would recognise them.
Yellow: People who though not able to
recognise the characters would be able
to identify with the characters in other
ways.

7. What is the relationship
between
characters and audience?
You have done some thinking about the different audiences Two
Cars, One Night might be aimed at.
Use this thinking to develop your ideas about the possible
relationships between characters on screen and the different
types of spectator.
Consider whether the relationship is of:
• Identification
• Understanding
• Discovery
• Learning?
Write about which character(s) relate to which audience(s) and
how.

8. What is the relationship
between
characters and audience?

9. Summary
Ask students to write their own definition of
‘representation’ without looking back at the original

10. Extension
Examine audience and representation in the other two
films studied.