Re-Presentation lesson

This lesson Mr Smith explained to us what Re-Presentation was,  then asked us to write down ur own definition of Re-Presentation, mine wasn't very easy to understand because I knew what I meant in my head, but found it hard to write it out. My definition of Re-Presentation was; 'Re-Presentation is the copy of something that is perceived to be real, but actually is acopy of something that is made out to be real by the copies. Basically, copies of copies, in a big circle.'
The actual definition we were given was;
Re-presentation; The way the media present 'something' as though it were real, it is not real, merely a copy of something.
We were also given some other definitions...
Signs; Something which communicates a piece of information e.g a road sign giving directions to where you are going
Signifiers; Multiple 'ideas' or ' feelings' behind a sign. 
All signs/signifiers belong to cultures, so people in other cultures will relate to different signs e.g wearing a wedding ring on your 'ring' finger in this country may be worn on another finger in a different country, but will still give off the same sign of ' i'm married' 

Mr Smith asked us to draw a picture of a house with the sun shining , a tree in the garden and a number from one to ten.
< This is what I drew, and it was practically the same as what everyone else drew. Most people picked the number 7 or 4 because apparantly they are the most common numbers to pick randomly. When we were asked to draw this, we thought of a typical house, tree, sunshine to draw. They are the instant signs we think of when asked to do this, whereas in other cultures they may draw tree's differently, such as people in Miami may draw palm tree's. 
Gatekeepers; The people in charge of what you can see. E.g they decide how the character may be portrayed, and they decide everything that you see on screen and the way they want the audience to interprate what they are trying to show.
Ideology; 'A beleif system' , what the maker of what you are watching is trying to portray to you.


I have used re-presentation in my magazine cover and contents, as Becca doesn't do Drama at A-level so I have created an image of Becca on something that isn't real. I was the gatekeeper in the sense that I decided what I wanted my target audience to see, I cherry picked the best photos and that affected how she was portrayed, therefore people would reckon she was like that and base an opinion an image of her that isn't real.


Mr Smith then introduced us to ' Mise En Scene ' which basically means everything you can see on screen. So not sound. 
Mise En Scene is 
Camera angle
Props
Settings
Lighting 
Acting.


Baring that in mind we then had to watch the opening scene twice of 'Rushmore' without any sound and answer these five questions, here is the clip, then my questions and answers.



1) Where is the film set?
At a christian private school in America. The lads there all looked clever so it made me think there was more than likely an entrance exam. 


2) Describe the main characters personality? 
Geeky - he worked out that equation in a matter of seconds, he was also reading the stock markets page in the newspaper
Unpopular - when he woke up after the dream it showed that life wasn't like that and he was imagining everyone appreciating and getting along with him.
Weird/Quirky - He was drinking tea from a pink teacup, which is stereotypically an english drink so the question of why he'd be drinking it in a maths lesson is put across to the reader. 


3) What is he excellent at?
Maths.


4)How do others view him?
In the first scene they think he is a bit of a hero for working out the equation. I assumed from watching it that people respect him and look up to him.


5) How was he dressed?
He is wearing a dark blue blazer ( which matched the walls behind him ) when all the other kids are wearing cream trousers and a lighter blue shirt which shows he liked to stand out and be different. 


We then watched the montage of the clubs Max is involved in three times and I noted down all the clubs he did;

Yankee Reveiw Publisher, French Club President, Model united nations Russia, Stamp & Coin club Vice-President, Debate Team Captain, Lacrosse Team Manager, Calligraphy Club President, Astronomy Society Founder, Fencing Team Captian, Track & Field J.V Decathalon, 2nd Chorale Choirmaster, Bombardment Society Founder, Kung Fu Club Yellow Belt, Trap & Skeep Club Founder, Rushmoore Beekepers President, Yankee Racers Founder, Max Fischer Players Director, Pier Cub Club.
The fact he's always in the centre of the action in these clips, and that all the kids around him are younger shows he can't get any mates in his year, or the year below maybe.