Television CSP- His Dark Materials - Language and Representation

Language

1) Costume - what is Lyra wearing in the photo below? What does this costume suggest she is doing / she is like as a character?

The costume that Lyra is wearing a Dungaree and a backpack which suggests that she is a traveller. She is wearing a backpack which suggests that she is looking for a place to survive.

2) Costume: Mrs Coulter is always very smart and formal with red lips and styled hair. What does this suggest about the type of villain she is / her character?

This suggests that she is aggressive and violent as she presents herself as a  controlling person and that she is a person who wants to be respected and she is also motionless

3) Lighting- What do you notice about the setting for where Mrs Coulter is torturing the witch?

The Setting is dark which represents that there is a dark thing happening which symbolises the low key lighting which  Mrs Coulter is using to torture the witch. The setting is a dark environment and she is punishing the witches. 

4) Actor’s position and movement- Look at the picture of Lyra (below). What does her facial expression tell us about the kind of character she is? What about her actions?

Her facial expression shows us that she is a character that wants to lead from the front even though She and Will are from different universes.

5) Makeup- Look at the make-up (and clothing and hair) of the tortured witch. What does the make-up tell us about the character of the witches? (Hint- think about how it makes her look unusual)

The makeup tells us that the witches look like ghosts because the makeup and hair looks like the ones that you see in a horror film and this is unusual because they do not look like a witch.

6)Props- Look at the props in these two screen shots (below). Why have the props been chosen? What do they connote to the audience? For bonus points, what is the shot type and why has this been used?

These props have been chosen because in the first picture it shows a child holding a stick which shows us that she is threatened by Lyra and Will. The shot type they used was a close-up.

7) Setting- Look at the three different settings below. Choose one or more. What do you notice about the setting? How are the settings connected to the characters? What shot has been chosen and why?

The settings are connected to the characters as in the First image it shows Lyra and Will staring at the main landmark.

Representation

1)How is Lyra not a typical female character?

She is not a typical female character as she subverts the normal stereotype of a female girl as in this episode she shows more of her masculine side then her feminine side and is a strong and powerful female character. An example is When she is bossing Will and she is the one who is making all the main decisions and she also has some protection in the form of her Daemon which turns into anything

2) The witches and Mrs Coulter are also seen as powerful women. How are they represented as powerful? Are they seen as good or evil or both?

they are seen as evil because Mrs Coulter wants to be respected and to be respected you need a bit of evil in you.

3)How is Will represented? Is he a typical male character or more unexpected?

Will is represented as a atypical male character as he is cooking and is a kind-hearted person and does not fight with Lyra when she takes the bed that he was originally sleeping in.

4)Look at the casting (people acting in this series). Is the cast diverse?

The cast is diverse as the main protagonist are black and white and the people who live in the derelict city are presented in a lower class way.