Representation of Ethnicity

In all the text I've looked at (Band Aid video, Oxfam advert and the Beast of No Nation movie) they is a strong use of close-ups specifically extreme and big close of the faces of people in crisis. They are depicted as always being in crisis whether it be famine, war or lack of clean water. There is always a lack of costume on the people no matter what the crisis there are in is.

Furthermore, in third world countries, they are represented the same thought different adverts. In the Band Aid music video, we can see that they are being portrayed that there is not much to do apart from them needing our help. This is repeated through the fact that in most adverts, everyone is unclean and they all lack with the amount of food and water that they have. It is then put down to us for helping to look after them by the money we can donate, and that the money we donate spirals to crops being made, selling crop, making money, going to school and on and on; it all starts from a small donation. There are many close ups, which show all of the illnesses and diseases people may have, also the long shots show the neediness of everyone and the shapes of them show how malnourished they are.

The Oxfam advert shows the audience the struggles that some people have to deal with and what has already been done. They repeat the benefits that have come from small donations like the well that is mentioned frequently. The advert uses the shot of a woman collecting a bucket of water from the well using a low angle shot. The voiceover consistently says "this is the well Oxfam have built thanks to two pounds a month from someone like you, during the shot. The advert is telling us that we have already made a difference.

We see the breakout of a civil war and then the child Agu become alone as his family get killed. This brings the viewers to realise how serious everything is as he has to leave his home with nothing. The commandant finds Agu and takes care of him, during Agu's time with the commandant we get to see how corrupt these countries are and how little development there is as even when they're in the villages it is still very sparse and rural. 


Comments

  1. Band Aid:Need to backup your points by providing evidence e.g. the different types of camerawork, sound and editing used.

    Oxfam: Refer to different camera shots (close-ups and long-shots), however you need to provide more in depth analysis of what the effect is of using the camerawork not just the denotation.

    Need to add another paragraph of representation in A Beast of No Nation e.g. how the country is portrayed and the repeated use of violence.

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