MONARCH OF THE GLEN ANALOGY

Monarch Of The Glen 

ANALOGY 

The scene opens with traditional, country style music played over the scenes of an older generation of characters. When the scene changes to show the younger characters, the music changes too, to a more upbeat, youthful style of music. There is a variation of shot types in the opening scenes, such as over the shoulder, this can be used to show authority and the age gap between the older and younger characters. There is also many zoom ins and close up shots, to show the contrast between the older characters and the younger characters, such as Amy.

Age can also be seen through the clothing and makeup of the characters. Amy is wearing more youthful, casual clothing, a simple t-shirt and jeans where as the older characters, such as the headmaster seem to be wearing a lot more formal clothing and there is a definite difference in the styles from one generation to the other. This is portrayed through the mise en scene. The scenes are all quite dimly lit and the colour scheme is very much full of dull, dreary colours. This contrasts to the colour of Amy's clothing, were she is wearing bright colours such a green, this represents her youth.

There is a sense of authority with the older characters, and we learn that they are responsible for Amy, and are looking after her for her father. This is portrayed through low angle shots, and we get a sense of authority through the height difference between the characters, which is extensuiated through the shot types and camera angles. Here, we get a sense of age as we see the the older generation looking after the younger generation, which is very typical and expected.  When Amy initially gets in the car, we see her muttering to her self, and her inexperience becomes apparent, reinforcing her youth. When the car crashes, no music is overlaid, this makes the crash more dramatic and comes as more of a shock to the viewer. There is a mid-shot when we are being shown the three characters loading up the truck. When the crash happens, the three adults run to ensure that the teenager is OK, as they are responsible for Amy as adults. The shot types used here are from above, close ups to show the fear and worry when the noise is first heard and a slight panorama shot to capture the damage of the car. Age is shown here through the reactions to the crash. The headmaster is more concerned about the damage to the car where as everyone else is more concerned about the health and well being of Amy, as they are responsible for her and this again portrays the age gap between the two generations. The headmaster says that he has been "worried sick" and that when a "sixteen year old girl runs away you can't help but fear the worst". Here, we see the headmaster feels as though he has a lot of responsibility over Amy, and must take care of her and look out for her as she is so young and he is the adult. This is reinforced when he requests a replacement car to be given to him so he can drive himself and Amy back to school, where she can do her exams.

The sense of age is carried through to the next scene when they are inside what appears to be a very grand building. Here, the mise en scene and setting have been used to portray age. The three generations respond differently to Amy not being in school, and deal with their anger in different ways. The headmaster turns to alcohol, Amy has a very stereotypical teenage 'tantrum', screaming "I hate you," and storming out, while Paul; the father figure remains relatively calm. The shot types here all reinforce these attitudes, and the shot of Amy's granny looking rather anxious and fidgiting gives the impression that she is feeling almost guilty, and shows signs of sympathy for Amy. She clearly cares a lot for Amy and this again portrays the theme of age.

 The mise en scene also portrays a sense of age when we see into Amy's bedroom. The furnishings of the room contrast to the that of the previous house we have seen. There is a slow pan of Amy's bed, to show the decor and to get across the age gap through the inside furnishings. There are multiple fashion and makeup magazines sprawled across Amy's bed, showing the hobbies of a stereotypical teenage girl. Age is also portrayed through the presents and cards that Amy leaves on her bed, the teddy bear symbolising youth and the blue pyjamas for someone older. This is created through the mise en scene. There is also a zoom in shot of some photographs on Amy's mirror, and we can see through her facial expressions that she longs for this time period and that perhaps a lot of time has passed since they were taken, and with that a lot of change. There is no music over these clips, and this allows the viewer to really focus on what is being said in the scene. However, when the scene cuts to the traditional, rural setting, the traditional, country music comes back.

In these scenes we can see the older generation working hard, which contrasts to Amy's work ethic, as she has left school and has not completed any of her exams. This portrays a sense of age as here Amy is being presented as a care-free, irresponsible teenager while the older generation are all at work, as they are responsible. This is re-inforced when Amy decides to drive the car when she is only sixteen and has not yet passed her test, this is an act of stupidity and one  that you would expect from a sixteen year old, and not someone older. Here we get the message that wisdom comes with age.