Eastenders clip analysis - Representation of age

Age: The amount of time a person has lived.

Initial thoughts:
This clip shows a range of age from a young teenager to an old man. The old man, Patrick is represented to be wise and talks in the whole clip about his past. The young are represented to be curious on Patricks past and at the end the young woman, Chelsea's phone rings showing the addition of and obsession with modern technology with the young. In image, the old man is represented old by also having hints of grey in his hair, whereas the other young people do not, automatically separating him from everyone else in the room age wise. The old man is also seen to be drinking whiskey unlike everyone else who is drinking champagne, this therefore represents those of older age can stomach more than the young, this again separates the ages. The young girl who is obviously is still in school, Libby, often comments with intellectual answers which is her showing off the amount she's learnt and trying to get more included as because she is young she is represented as knowing the least however in the midst of learning. The elderly are also represented to have wrinkles therefore being physically old, in comparison to the others in this clip who have fresh, smooth looking skin. When Chelsea takes an interest the mother (who is older) asks her how much she has had to drink. This represents the young to only care about fun and drinking instead of facts and intellectual things, in this case, Patricks historical story.

Camera Shots: 

A pan shot is first used, which shows the difference of age in an in-chronological order, however it begins on Patrick who is the oldest. This represents the elderly as a matter of importance, this could be due to many reasons, not in this case but possibly because they need more car. In this case it is because he is speaking and it is showing everyone listening which represents younger generations having respect for elders. (0.1 - 0.14)

A master shot is then used which shows the limit of action for the shot, which is presumably a family around a dinner table having a meal. This shot also shows all the people included in the scene and again shows the difference between ages. From this shot we can see that even though the table is circular, Patrick is at the head of the table which represents that again younger generations have respect and show this by letting him practically host the dinner and being the centre of attention.

A close up shot is used of Chelsea, showing her features in a better picture. We can see she has applied make up and has earrings in and therefore has made an attempt to look good for a family dinner. This represents the youth to be obsessed with their looks are at least take a lot of pride in them, however this also represents them as self centred in some respects.

There is also a close up shot of Patrick used again letting us see him in a better picture. We can see he has wrinkles and both grey hair and facial hair, which is quite stereotypical for an old person. This represents old people as looking physically old by the use of different colour hair, this is also reassuring that he is the oldest within the scene as compared to everyone else, nobody else has grey hair or even facial hair, which could represent old people as having maturity and the ability to grow facial hair due to their age and the fact that they are so passed puberty.

Sound:

A synchronous sound is made when Chelsea's phone rings right at the end, this is done by the gatekeepers of the show to draw the audiences attention to the phone and whose the phone is. This is a representation of age, creating an ideology that the youth are obsessed with technology, perhaps more so than their family as during a deep talk with her family Chelsea still answers the phone.

The record played playing Jamaican music in the background is diegetic because it is a sound that occurs naturally on screen, not only can we hear the music, but so can the character. This action represents people of an elderly age to be sentimental as Patrick has the record on whilst reminiscing about being a Jamaican in London with his family.

Mise-en-scene:

From this shot you can see the table and the family sitting around it. There is a variable within the drinks which are being consumed, whilst everyone else seems to be drinking champagne Patrick is drinking what looks to be whiskey. This represents age in the term that older aged people can handle their drink more and can drink harder drinks due to their experience, this is also a stereotypical drink for people of older ages, which is demonstrated in various programmes within the media. Also there is an overview of everyones appearance. There is a slight distinction in the ages hair colour, for example, Patrick the older man has grey in his hair. This is representing the elderly to have a visual difference in comparison to the youth, which is the grey hair. Also Patrick is wearing what would be deemed as smart clothing in this age, he is wearing a waist coat in a dress shirt. This is representing those of old age to not be caught in the time of fashion. However this idea is contradicted when Libby, the youngest is wearing big glasses which can be seen by some as a lack of fashion, which contradicts the idea of the elderly being represented as having not much knowledge on fashion.

This shot shows the contrast between a young woman going into adulthood (Chelsea) and an old man who is stereotypically painted as elderly (Patrick). The girl is wearing a bright, vibrant shirt whereas the old man is wearing a dark, subtle dress shirt. This represents that the young people possibly care about their appearance and strive to be noticed whereas the elderly are unbothered by the opinion of others and do not mind about going unnoticed, possibly because they have already past that point of their life. It is not very visible in this shot but at other parts we notice that Patrick has wrinkles in comparison to Chelsea's smooth, fresh skin, which is also touched up by make up. This is a stereotypical representation of age as the idea is represented that old people are visually old with physical altercations, whereas the youth are again obsessed with looking good and are visibly looking younger with very sleek skin. 

In conclusion, in this clip old age is represented with physical appearance (grey hair, facial hair, older/smarter fashion), speech (the dialogue when Patrick is explaining his past) and positioning of character (putting him at the head of table to convey respect). Youth is represented by association of technology (when Chelsea answers her phone at the end) and through physical appearance (the younger people to Patrick have smooth skin in comparison to his wrinkled, aged skin, plus Chelsea is wearing bright fashionable clothing). Overall, I think this clip was good representation of age because there are 4 different ages shown, elderly, middle age, a woman going into adulthood and a teenager.