Representation refers to the construct of aspects of 'reality' in a given medium. Media representation refers to the reflection of reality through the media, so how it presents elements of real life in certain ways, for example: cultural identities, gender, places, objects and so on.
Our final piece involved a historical element of outdated concepts, primarily the treatment and the attitude towards the 'insane'. The antagonist was a female in her early adulthood who was perceived as insane and was locked up in the house. The reaction of the protagonist was alarm and then panic as he realised she was no longer contained. This, we found, was an accurate representation of the care for the mentally disadvantaged during the time period that we set it in, the 1920's.
We had to remember that mise-en-scene would have to be accurate in order to correctly represent the time period, so we used Everlands House and made sure that the only electrical items in shot were lamps, as they were the more common electrical objects found in houses. We also made sure that no cars were seen, as they do not reflect the time period, and that the costumes were relevant to the era. Because of this, our protagonist was wearing a suit and drank whisky, and our antagonist was wearing a long, plain white dress with no shoes, to reflect her mistreatment.
The reason as to why the narrative involved her being housebound was to prevent the disintegration of the protagonist's reputation and to avoid institutions. Institutions in the early 20th century were extremely strict and were of a similar ilk to prisons.
RESEARCH: http://www.hiddenlives.org.uk/blog/2014/04/misunderstanding-mental-health-early-20th-century/
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