Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representations of age

Age can be shown in many ways. Typical stereotypes of old age are grey hair, wrinkles and hard hearing. Age is how old you are dependant on when you were born, how long you have been alive and in existence.

My initial thoughts of this clip are that this is three generations of one family sitting down at a table having dinner. I think Patrick is the Grandad or uncle type figure based on his age and characteristics, Denise is his niece or relation, the man is her husband or boyfriend and the two young girls are their children. In the clip the younger generation are represented to be looking for knowledge from the oldest person although the youngest girls is shown to know more than the man and the woman who are the middle generation. This suggests that education has improved since the middle generation but the old man seems to have strong knowledge about a certain time in his life that everyone finds interesting. Age is represented to effect the knowledge of each generation showing the oldest to have knowledge from personal experience, the youngest to have knowledge from education and the middle generation are just being taught by the other generations.

Representation of age can also be looked at through camera shots, angles, composition and movement, Mise-en-scene, sound and editing.

Firstly I will discuss how camera shots, angles, composition and movement are used to represent age in this clip. The first shot is of the old man, Patrick. The camera pans round all of the characters but Patrick seems to remain the centre of the shot through out. This could be to show how he is the centre of conversation and his age is the reason for this due to his knowledge. The camera also shows the whole table a lot, this is probably to show the three generations of people sitting at the table emphasising the age of each. Patrick takes up most of the camera time also suggesting high importance and interest which is all to do with his age and his knowledge of the past. There are a lot of close ups of Patrick's face, not only showing the facial expressions but also showing the wrinkles, grey hair and moustache. The camera shows reaction shots of the characters and they are laughing a lot, this is showing how Patrick is funny and this could be suggesting that with age comes humour. There is a close up of the mother, Denise's hand on the elder daughter hand suggesting that the middle generation are caring and supportive

Next I will discuss how Mise-en-scene is used in order to represent age. The clothing worn by each generation is a clear representation of age. The youngest girl is wearing glasses and appears to be wearing braces, although these generally are stereotypes for girls of this age I think her choice of clothing and glasses are quite unlike the choice other people of this age would make. The clothing of this character could be to show how in this family the youngest girl is also of highest intelligence out of those in the room, this fits well with her knowledge within the clip.
The second youngest girl, her sister, seems to be more interested in fashion and her appearance but this is implying that she is of less intelligence that her younger sister. This suggests that as you get older you care less about intelligence and more about appearance. This daughter is also wearing hoop earrings suggesting that she may have quite high self confidence and attitude. Denise, the mother is also wearing hoop earrings possible suggesting that she is trying to appear younger than she is which is a typical feature of an older woman. She is also wearing quite dark dingy clothing suggesting that although she will wear the earrings she doesn't quite have the same confidence as her daughter who is wearing a very bright blue jumper.
Similarly the middle aged man who I have understood to be Denise's partner is also wearing a plain dark coloured jumper, this shows how he also has possibly lost the confidence to wear anything that shows any character. Black and other dark colours can be interpreted to be quite dull, miserable colours, suggesting that this time in life is of no importance and you are seen as very dull and boring. This also goes with the fact that the two middle aged characters seem to have the least knowledge. Patrick seems to have bright colours on again backing up his knowledgeable and funny personality. The waist coat is a typical elderly man stereotype.
The scene appears to be set in a building with quite old fashioned décor suggesting that this is probably Patrick's house. The shelves all seem to be covered in ornaments etc suggesting Patrick to be quite old as these are probably supposed to be something he has collected over time and the collecting of things is a stereotype of people of the older generation. Patrick is drinking rum which is not a drink typically drunk by young people due to its acquired taste. He also has greying hair and a moustache suggesting that he is old.

Next I will discuss how sound, in the clip is used to represent age.
First of all I will discuss the effects sound in this clip. This includes the voices of each character. Patrick's accent shows his age as he clearly has a different past to the others as they all have standard London accents. In the background music can be heard but not pop or modern music showing Patrick's age.

Lastly I will look at how editing in the clip is used to represent age. First of all there are strait cuts to one shot to another, this creates a feeling of continuity in the conversations between characters. This also makes the scene seem as if it has been filmed in order although this is probably not the case.

Overall the clip shows people of elderly age to have high amounts of knowledge of past events. They show them to also bring comedy to the conversation and seem to portray them as interesting people to be around. This clip portray's middle aged people to be at quite a boring time in their life by dressing them in dull clothing. The also make them seem as if they are trying to hold on to their youth by wearing aspects of the clothes of the younger generation. Finally they portray the youngest generation to be one of two things, interested in knowledge and education or interested in clothing, appearance and fashion. They are also shown to be quite intelligence as they do seem to have more intelligence than the middle generation.