Representation movie essay

The Bourne Identity 

Representation is the way people are represented in the media by playing on existing representations. Therefore, the perception of the audience is influenced by the media producer. Stuart Hall’s reception theory (19880s-1990s) was based on the audience decoding text encoded by the producer. The concept believed the interpretation of the text was influenced by an individual’s circumstance. It used codes and conventions and followed the audience’s expectations. His representation theory is based on stereotypes such as in-class/status, gender and love. 

In the movie The Bourne Identity, the police are portrayed to be in a position of high power. The low angle shot of the policemen in the extract makes them appear superior. The focal point of the camera changes to the walking movement of the policemen through track movement. The focus is on the leg and foot which are less important features of the body compared to the face which helps to build a person’s physical image connote the idea of the policemen being important. The audience becomes suspicious of their intentions when they are revealed to be following Bourne (this is the scene before the car chase and it is later in the movie). They carry prop weapons. The theme of good and evil is shown as ‘good’ people cannot be trusted as they are involved in shady business. 

In terms of gender, Bourne the male character is portrayed to be ‘the hero’ fighting the antagonist and saving the female character which according to Propp Character’s theory is called ‘the princess’. The majority of the movie includes male characters where they are strong and have adequate fighting skills. Bourne appears alert and inhumane like a fighting machine. 

The theme of the importance of a woman 's role is contrasted. Where Bourne is able to perceive danger and has the ability to fight and remove the threat Marie is becoming emotional and hinders him by acting as a damsel in distress. This is contrasted in the hotel scene where she appears intelligent and brings something to the table. 

As the relationship between Jason and Marie grows the audience gets to know him as she does. Marie is the human part of the inhumane part of Jason. 

Identity is the main theme of the movie and this is physically represented by the many passports and names Bourne carries. This creates the idea of the past catching up to the present. His name is symbolic and connotes the idea of being reborn. 

The other theories that were not discussed include the hypodermic theory, two-step flow theory, uses and gratification theory and narrative theory.  

The four technical elements of representation: 

Mise-en-scene:

The movie is set in the season of winter which is created by the cool hues and signified by the puffer jacket. There is a lot of snow which makes people and nature vulnerable as seen by the bare trees without leaves.  The black smudges on the puffer jacket show it is dirty which physically represents Bourne on his journey to unlocking his memory and finding out about his past. 

The train has two important colours of the movie which is red (the headrest)  and blue (the outside colour of the train). This represents Bourne as red is symbolic of his past and authority, for example, the fingerprint scanner and blue is symbolic of the present, for example, the red bag containing the many passports he carries around. 

The train travels into the tunnel which is a symbol of the unknown and darkness. As Bourne sits in the train there are flashing lights that create a flickering effect on his reflection that connotes the feeling of confusion and the idea of his memories ‘flashing’ past him. This is ironic as he suffers from amnesia. 

There is an eye-line match on the bullet in Bourne’s hand which is partly obscured by his clothing. The metal bullet is a reminder of the scene at the beginning where it is taken from his back; this portrays Bourne as tough as he is obviously still alive. It represents the wounds of his past and the violence he will continue to face. The bullet links to the gun later in the combat scene between him and the policemen. The gun is an iconography associating with violence which is an important genre convention. 

When Bourne sleeps on the bench at night he is surrounded by low lighting representing his inability to understand his situation. The low lighting creates darkness which is associated with immorality and it foreshadows Bourne using his skills and abilities to fight against the ‘bad guys’, in this case, the policemen. The flashlight is used to shine light onto Bourne’s face; this is the first scene in the movie where he is caught by people in a position of authority. Bourne is not a stereotypical ‘hero’ character; he is clearly vulnerable and has become a victim of his circumstance. 

Camerawork:

Camera movement- Given that the camera has been focusing on Bourne the audience identifies him as the main character. The Camera pans from left to right until he is in the centre of the screen. This makes him stand out against the other citizens- the bright red colour of his puffer jacket he wears also helps to do this. 

The camera shot- Bourne walks towards the direction of the camera where at first it is taken from an extreme wide shot and ends with a wide shot. It creates the feeling for the audience that they are directly watching him without him knowing because he does not make eye contact into the camera lens. This links with the plot of him being observed by the policemen. Bourne is portrayed as a typical male character who is not bothered by filth as he walks through a puddle of water. The puddle of water held between two metal lines creates a barrier by Bourne stepping into it; it suggests him crossing into a new world different from his previous. 

Camera movement- The camera zooms into Bourne from a wide shot to a close-up. The wide shot confirms he is a passenger in the train as before there was a low angle overhead shot of a moving train. The close-up shot shows him looking at the window which acts as a mirror creating a reflection of himself.  The image is unclear and distorted. There is a racking focus on his contemplative expression which suggests he feels confused. A theme in the movie is identity in which he is unclear about and therefore, the enigma of the movie is the mental challenge he faces. This is driven by the amnesia plot device which is common in thriller movies, especially psychological thrillers. It is ironic that although he is an adult he faces a challenge common among a younger stage in life. The lack of spoken language limits the audience from knowing what he is actually thinking and they are left to deduce through reading his facial expression. 

Camera shot- There is a medium shot of Bourne looking at the distance, it is tense to watch because he stands isolated in an abandoned street at night. Artificial light is used to create the dark blue lighting far ahead in the street creating an eerie feeling alongside the shadows- a common thriller convention.  The dark lighting and shadows create the setting of being nighttime playing on the audience's fear of the dark. The audience is ‘kept in the dark’ in this scene as Bourne faces away from the camera and only his back is seen. There is no point of view shot to show the audience what he is looking at which furthers the previous point. An alternative point is because of his firm posture Bourne is portrayed as courageous.

Camera angle- The slight high angle shot of the footprints in the snow connotes the idea of people walking before him. It creates a mysterious effect as the audience do not know who these people might have been. 

Editing: 

Continuity editing is used throughout the movie to create a sense of time and reality moving forward. This is important in showing the progress of Bourne finding his identity. There is a flashback near the end of the movie that is key to the audience understanding the plot. 

The extract begins with focusing on the moving ship which is done by freeze-frame editing. It links with the beginning of the movie where it is set inside a ship. There is a change in setting from ocean to the city creating contrast. The jump cut from the ship moving from left to right on the screen to Bourne walking on land tells the audience that he had been travelling in the ship. As an effect a sense of discontinuity is created clearly the scenes are insignificant in the movie as they are cut. The jump cuts are used to show Bourne travelling from one place to another clearly his class and status enable him to. 

Match on the action is used to emphasise the continuity of time in the fight scene. It makes this scene entertaining to watch and  keeps the audience alert. .Bourne’s physical abilities in combat are clearly evident and because of this, the audience is given insight into his character's backstory. 

Before another jump cut to a moving train, Bourne walks in the city where he disappears after a vehicle drives past him. This effect is created by a visual effect. It creates a vanishing effect that creepy as it makes him ghost-like. 

Audio:

The clip begins with a non-diegetic sound of a soft string melody in a minor key which creates an ominous feel. The music becomes louder and foreshadows danger. 

Before a fight scene between Bourne and the policemen, booming drum beats are added to the music and the volume becomes higher making the atmosphere intense and creates anticipation within the audience. The sound effect of the punching makes the fight scene realistic. It makes the audience imagine the pain that the characters would have felt. Also, It emphasises his physical ability to fight. 

The loud yet muffled voice at the train station does not tell the audience where Bourne is. It also reflects his state of mind which suggests that everything's a blur. The foreign dialogue shows Bourne is in a foreign country. The fact that he replies in English and the foreign language shows he understands. He is clearly skilled in another language and hints at the idea of his occupation before involving travelling and fighting which narrows down into an agent.